BAGS of refuse piling up in the Glenwood area are causing concern for residents who want to keep their streets clean. Berea Mail visited the area on Tuesday, January 17 to inspect problem areas on Lena Ahrens, Cato and JB Marks roads.
Cato Road resident and active member of Cato Road South Community Association, Shaun Finchman, is at his wits’ end after filing multiple complaints with DSW.
“In December, we had refuse building up for about two and a half weeks – finally it was collected on December 24,” he said.
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Finchman added that piles of refuse are seen throughout the area.
“There is a pile of [refuse] bags on the road, and a few metres around the corner, there’s another pile. When DSW responds [to a complaint], they collect only what they are told to collect – they are not proactive to collect other refuse along the road,” he said.
Refuse left out is beginning to rot, raising health concerns.
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“When refuse is not collected, the monkeys start breaking the bags open. There is also the usual breakdown of maggots in the refuse. I was walking down my road the other day, and the smell was horrific,” he said.
The concerned resident said the issue began in December last year.
“When you speak to DSW, they don’t take ownership of the problem and manage their teams,” he claimed.
Finchman said Wednesday is the refuse-collection day for his area, adding that refuse is not collected according to schedule.
“Wednesday becomes Thursday or Friday. Residents have refuse bags that smell and need to go out – we put the bags out on the day they’re supposed to be collected, but that collection day no longer exists,” he said.
According to Ward 33 councillor Sakhile Mngadi refuse collection has been intermittent due to a host of issues at the Collingwood Depot.
“It’s a resources and management issue. There seems to be a lack of reliable trucks. I’ve tried to have open channels of communication so I can update residents, but this isn’t happening as often as it should,” he said.
The eThekwini Municipality were not available for comment at the time this article was published.
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